Information Notice 1987-42, Diesel Generator Fuse Contacts

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Diesel Generator Fuse Contacts
ML031130353
Person / Time
Site: Beaver Valley, Millstone, Hatch, Monticello, Calvert Cliffs, Dresden, Davis Besse, Peach Bottom, Browns Ferry, Salem, Oconee, Mcguire, Nine Mile Point, Palisades, Palo Verde, Perry, Indian Point, Fermi, Kewaunee, Catawba, Harris, Wolf Creek, Saint Lucie, Point Beach, Oyster Creek, Watts Bar, Hope Creek, Grand Gulf, Cooper, Sequoyah, Byron, Pilgrim, Arkansas Nuclear, Braidwood, Susquehanna, Summer, Prairie Island, Columbia, Seabrook, Brunswick, Surry, Limerick, North Anna, Turkey Point, River Bend, Vermont Yankee, Crystal River, Haddam Neck, Ginna, Diablo Canyon, Callaway, Vogtle, Waterford, Duane Arnold, Farley, Robinson, Clinton, South Texas, San Onofre, Cook, Comanche Peak, Yankee Rowe, Maine Yankee, Quad Cities, Humboldt Bay, La Crosse, Big Rock Point, Rancho Seco, Zion, Midland, Bellefonte, Fort Calhoun, FitzPatrick, McGuire, LaSalle, 05000000, Zimmer, Fort Saint Vrain, Shoreham, Satsop, Trojan, Atlantic Nuclear Power Plant, Skagit, Marble Hill, Crane
Issue date: 09/04/1987
From: Rossi C
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
To:
References
IN-87-042, NUDOCS 8708310006
Download: ML031130353 (6)


SSINS No.:

6835 IN 87-42

UNITED STATES

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

20555

September 4, 1987

NRC INFORMATION NOTICE NO. 87-42:

DIESEL GENERATOR FUSE

CONTACT

S

Addressees

All nuclear power reactor facilities holding an operating license or a con- struction permit.

Purpose

This information notice is being provided to alert recipients to potential

failures of emergency electrical power supplies resulting from misalignment

and/or degradation of fuse contacts. It is expected that recipients will

review the information for applicability to their facilities and consider

actions, if appropriate, to avoid similar problems.

However, suggestions

contained in this notice do not constitute NRC requirements; therefore, no

specific action or written response is required.

Description of Circumstances

At Browns:Ferry Nuclear Plant, Unit 3, during routine surveillance testing of

an emergency diesel generator on April 20, 1987, an explosion occurred in the

electrical control cabinet.

The explosion resulted from a phase-to-phase short

in a cable bundle in the potential transformer (PT) fuse compartment.

The electrical control cabinet was supplied by Power Systems Division of

General Motors, the diesel generator manufacturer.

The licensee's investiga- tion revealed that the cables routing power from the PT fuses to the trans- formers shorted after their insulation failed because of an overtemperature

condition.

This condition is believed to have been caused by an excessive

air gap and/or poor contact between the spring finger contact arrangement

of the PT fuses.

The spring finger contacts were manufactured by Allis-Chalmers.

The moveable contacts are mounted to the PT fuse compartment door so that when

the door is opened, the contacts disconnect, thereby preventing anyone from

pulling the fuse while it is carrying current. When the door is closed, the

moveable contact finger connects with the stationary contact. Although the

contacts were destroyed by the event, the licensee concluded that an air gap

due to misalignment or contact degradation from corrosion, pitting, or burning, caused arcing and eventual failure. Although the cause has been attributed to

inadequate maintenance of the contact, the licensee is considering design changes

as a permanent solution.

IN 87-42 September 4, 1987 Discussion:

The licensee inspected the other seven diesel generator control cabinets and

found three other instances of poor contact.

Visual inspection for burning, pitting, corrosion and improper alignment and mating of contact surfaces were

performed as well as micro-ohmmeter checks.

Since 1973, four previous onsite

events involving this type of pressure contact arrangement have occurred on

non-safety-related electrical boards designed by General Electric Co.

Because

of this type of problem, General Electric modified similar contacts on its

electrical boards to knife switch contacts. The licensee considers the problem

to be generic and has initiated a visual inspection of all PT fuse compart- ments.

No specific action or written response is required by this information notice.

If you have any questions about this matter, please contact the Regional

Administrator of the appropriate regional office or this office.

os

Di e t or

Division of Operational Events Assessment

____ _ _

_

Office-ofLNuclear-Reator-Regul-ation

-

Technical Contacts:

C. Brooks, RII

(205) 729-6196 Samuel D. MacKay, NRR

.

(301) 492-8394 Attachment:

List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices

Attachment

IN 87-42

.September 4, 1987

LIST OF RECENTLY ISSUED

INFORMATION NOTICES 1987 Information

Date of

Notice No.

Subject

Issuance

Issued to

87-41

87-40

87-39

87-38

Failures of Certain Brown

Boveri Electric Circuit

Breakers

Backseating Valves Routinely

to Prevent Packing Leakage

Control of Hot Particle

Contamination at Nuclear

Power Plants

Inadequate or Inadvertent

Blocking of Valve Movement

--

-

--

_ ~..-----

-

-

I-

I..-t-

-

0

-

87-37

87-36

87-35

87-34

Compliance with the General

License Provisions of

10 CFR Part 31

Significant Unexpected

Erosion of Feedwater Lines

Reactor Trip Breaker, Westinghouse Model DS-416,

Failed to Open on Manual

Initiation from the Control

Room

Single Failures in Auxiliary

Feedwater Systems

8/31/87

8/31/87

8/21/87

8/17/87

8/10/87

8/4/87

7/30/87

7/24/87

All nuclear power

reactor facilities.

holding an OL or CP.

All nuclear power

reactor facilities

holding an OL or CP.

All nuclear power

reactor facilities

and spent fuel

storage facilities

holding an NRC

license or CP.

All nuclear power

reactor facilities

holding an OL or CP.

All persons specifi- cally licensed to

manufacture or to

initially transfer

devices containing

radioactive material

to general licensees, as defined in 10 CFR

Part 31.

All nuclear power

reactor facilities

holding an OL or CP.

All nuclear power

reactor facilities

holding an OL or

CP employing W DS-416 reactor trip breakers.

All holders of an

OL or a CP for

pressurized water

reactor facilities.

OL = Operating License

CP = Construction Permit

I

-

-S

IN 87-42 September 4, 1987 Discussion:

The licensee inspected the other seven diesel generator control cabinets and

found three other instances of poor contact.

Visual inspection for burning, pitting, corrosion and proper alignment and mating of contact surfaces were

performed as well as micro-ohmmeter checks.

Since 1973, four previous onsite

events involving this type of pressure contact arrangement have occurred on

non-safety-related electrical boards designed by General Electric Co.

Because

of this type of problem, General Electric modified similar contacts on its

electrical boards to knife switch contacts.

The licensee considers the problem

to be generic and has initiated a visual inspection of all PT fuse compart- ments.

No specific action or written response is required by this information notice.

If you have any questions about this matter, please contact the Regional

Administrator of the appropriate regional office or this office.

Charles E. Rossi, Director

Division of Operational Events Assessment

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Technical Contacts:

C. Brooks, RII

(205) 729-6196

Samuel D. MacKay, NRR

(301) 492-8394 Attachment:

List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices

f*SEE PREVIOUS CONCURRENCES

RII

  • OGCB:DOEA:NRR
CBrooks

SDMacKay

p8hX87 08/11/87

_BY ?"Ao

IS7,s'-*eR

  • PPMB:ARM

TechEd

08/12/87

  • C/OGCB:DOEA:NRR

CHBerlinger

08/27/87

08/-//87

IN 87-XX

August, 1987 Discussion:

The licensee Inspected the other seven diesel generator control cabinets and

found three other Instances of poor contact. Visual Inspection for burning, pitting, corrosion and proper alignment and mating of contact surfaces were

performed as well as micro-ohmmeter checks. Since 1973, four previous onsite

events involving this type of pressure contact arrangement have occurred on

non-safety-related electrical boards designed by General Electric Co.

Because

of this type of problem, General Electric modified similar contacts on its

electrical boards to knife switch contacts. The licensee considers the problem

to be generic and has initiated a visual inspection of all PT fuse compart- ments.

No specific action or written response is required by this information notice.

If you have any questions about this matter, please contact the Regional

Administrator of the appropriate regional office or this office.

Charles E. Rossi, Director

Division of Operational Events Assessment

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Technical Contacts:

C. Brooks, RU1

(205) 729-6196

Samuel D. MacKay, NRR

(301) 492-8394 Attachment:

List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices

  • SEE PREVIOUS CONCURRENCES

RII

  • OGCB:DO EA:NRR

CBrooks

SDMacKay

08/ /87 08/11/87

  • PPMB:ARM

TechEd

08/12/87 C/OGCB: DOEA:NRR

CHBerlinger

08/ J/87 D/DOEA:NRR

CERossi

08/ /87

IN 87-XX

August, 1987 Discussion:

The licensee inspected the other seven diesel generator control cabinets and

found three other instances of poor contact.

Visual inspection for burning, pitting, and corrosion and proper alignment and mating of contact surfaces were

performed as well as mlcrohmmeter checks.

Four previous onsite events involv- ing this type of pressure contact arrangement have occurred dating back to 1973 on non-safety related electrical boards.

Because of this problem, GE modified

similar contacts on their electrical boards to use knife switch contacts. The

licensee considers the problem to be generic and has initiated a visual inspec- tion of all PT fuse compartments.

No specific action or written response is required by this information notice.

If you have any questions about this matter, please contact the Regional

Administrator of the appropriate regional office or this office.

Charles E. Rossi, Director

Division of Operational Events Assessment

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Technical Contacts:

C. Brooks, RII

(205) 729-6196

Samuel D. MacKay, NRR

(301) 492-8394 Attachment:

List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices

RII

CBrooks

08/ /87 OGCB:DOEA:NR

SDMacKay

08/11/87 PPMB:ARM

TechEd p1A1

08/i /87 C/OGCB:DOEA:NRR

CHBerlinger

08/ /87 D/DOEA:NRR

CERossi

08/ /87